Housing sales and real estate are indicators of wood panel and decorative market drivers. Once the housing sales improved, it directly benefited the demand of wood and wood décor surface panels. The recent reports indicated that Housing sales rose 5 per cent annually during July-September to 87,108 units in eight major cities as demand stayed strong for premium homes, according to Knight Frank India.
"Momentum in the residential market has trended up well in 2024 with Q3, 2024 recording the highest quarterly sales this year at 87,108 units," the report said. The growth in housing sales is driven by demand for premium housing costing above Rs 1 crore each.
As per the report, housing sales have grown across all markets except for the Delhi-NCR where sales have dipped by 7 per cent YoY (year-on-year). The highest sales volumes were recorded in Mumbai at 24,222 units, which is a new high for the market. Sales in Mumbai grew 9 per cent year-on-year.
Among the larger markets, sales grew the most in Bengaluru at 11 per cent YoY with 14,604 units. Housing sales in Pune were up 1 per cent to 13,200 units, while demand in Hyderabad grew 9 per cent to 9,114 units. Ahmedabad saw an 11 per cent growth in sales to 4,578 units, while Kolkata witnessed a 14 per cent growth in sales to 4,309 units. Housing sales in Chennai increased 6 percent to 4,105 units.
Another report suggested that Institutional investments in real estate grew 45 per cent to nearly USD 1.15 billion in July-September with investors looking to encash the strong demand for premium homes and offices, according to Colliers. Data showed that the institutional investments in real estate during July-September stood at USD 1,148.7 million as against USD 793.4 million in the year-ago period.
Among different asset classes in the overall real estate market, it has noted that the office segment attracted USD 616.3 million during the third quarter of this calendar year, a more than seven-fold jump from USD 79.1 million in the year-ago period.
The residential segment, which has seen a significant surge in demand post COVID pandemic, saw a 40 per cent growth in investments to USD 384.8 million from USD 274.6 million.